Amber and Iron - Margaret Weis [23]
First, people took artifacts that came from the temples of the overtly evil gods—Chemosh and Takhisis, Sargonnas, and Morgion. The temples of the neutral gods were the next to fall victim to the artifact hunters, the claim being made that “any god who is not for us is against us.”
Finally, as religious fervor (and greed) spread, holy warriors raided the temples of the Gods of Light, including those of the goddess of healing, Mishakal, for although she was Paladine’s consort, Mishakal committed the sin of opening her doors of healing to all mortals, even those who were not deemed worthy of a god’s blessing. Her clerics had actually been known to lay healing hands on thieves and prostitutes, kender and dwarves, and even wizards. When the clerics of Majere, god of justice, heard that Mishakal’s priests were being beaten and her artifacts stolen, they sought to protest. Their monasteries were then raided. Their artifacts went next.
Soon, the holy artifacts of every god in the pantheon, with the exception of Paladine, were locked up in what had once been the Tower of High Sorcery of Istar but which was now known as Solio Febalas, the Hall of Sacrilege. It was whispered that Paladine’s priests were starting to grow nervous, and that more than a few had been seen locking up the god’s holy relics in their storerooms. But even they were not safe.
When the Cataclysm struck Istar, the Hall of Sacrilege was destroyed in the fire of the gods’ wrath. The gods were confident the artifacts had been consumed in the conflagration. They wanted mortals to live on their own for a while.
No one had been more surprised to discover the artifacts intact than Nuitari. His single idea had been to claim the Tower for his own. Finding the artifacts had been a bonus. He knew he could not keep a secret as powerful as this forever. It would be only a matter of time before the other gods discovered the truth and came to him, demanding the artifacts back. The artifacts were in a safe place, guarded both by powerful magical spells and by Midori, an ancient and bad-tempered sea dragon. Such safeguards would keep out mortals; they would not stop a god.
Nuitari didn’t have to worry about that.
The gods would stop the gods.
Each god would want his or her own artifacts, of course. Each god would also want to insure that although he got his, no other gods would get theirs.
For example, Mishakal would not want Sargonnas, currently the most powerful God of Darkness, to regain his artifacts. She would seek out allies in her efforts to impede him—unlikely allies, such as Chemosh, who would side with Mishakal in this, for the Lord of Death was locked in a power struggle with Sargonnas and would not want the Horned God growing stronger that he already was. Then there was Gilean, God of the Scales, who might well oppose both the gods of Light and of Darkness, for fear that the return of these artifacts to any of the gods would upset an already teetering balance.
The sacred fur would really fly when the gods found out Nuitari was in possession of artifacts of Takhisis, the dead Queen of Darkness, and those of the self-exiled god, Paladine. Although their creators were gone, the artifacts remained, as did their holy power, which could be immensely useful to any god or mortal who laid hands on them. The squabbling over these alone might well last for centuries.
Meanwhile, Nuitari’s plan was to go about heaven making secret deals, quietly handing over an artifact here and another one there, playing the gods one off the other, all the while strengthening his own position.
Though Nuitari had hated Takhisis